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This is from the mildly famous/infamous guys at Brew Dog and brewed in Scotland. It pours from a 22oz bottle a golden pee color with a fairly foamy one inch head. The nose is hoppy and piney. The initial taste is of lager like pale ale vice IPA – not a lot of hops or malt but a lot of bitter – so not a lager or pale ale, but almost could be. There is also a resiny bitter flavor/taste that I can’t narrow down – almost like a peat taste, but not as strong or malty as peat. Maybe they snuck some peat in? who knows. Odd beer – would I buy it again – I might – but it is more of a summer type beer because it’s so light – at 6% alcohol and that lager flavor. Rating – very difficult – it is not a bad beer – in fact, it’s quite good – but it is not an IPA – so – as lagers and pale ales go, this would be a good one – as IPA’s go, this is average – well, above average for most of the swill on the US market…

Price: $7.99 Served In: Pint Glass

Nice crisp gold color with a white head. Nose is a melding pot of mango and other mouthwatering tropical fruits. Rather smooth on the palate with an oily slick mouthfeel. Flavors are fresh wet hops and a nice mango/tropical fruit finish.

Served In: Snifter

Best Before July 7, 2009; Sampled July 3, 2009
A solid pour produces a frothy, large and small bubbled, two-finger thick, pale, off-white colored head in my 25cl tulip glass. The beer is a copper-gold color that shows a brilliantly clear, bright gold color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of herbal hops and lemon zest up front, but quickly picks up a candied tangelo zest note, caramelized orange peel, as well as a faint note of grassy grain in the finish. The aroma still has a fair amount of hop character to it, for which I am relieved. There seems to be a boost from some fermentation notes to the aroma as well; mostly non-descript but it softly contributes to the fruitiness here with perhaps a hint of diacetyl. The aroma is quite nice and I am definitely enjoying the dominant hop character and the noticeable, clean malt notes.

Dry tasting up front, but it picks up some grain sweetness as it rolls across the tongue. The hop character contributes a signature Meyer lemon flavor that lingers through to the finish. The finish also has a biting hop bitterness to it that sticks around on the palate well after the beer has left my mouth. Tangerine flavors are backed by sharper notes of biting essential citrus oil and pine sap. The citrus character found here can remind me of a nice lemon curd at times. The body has a touch of fullness to it that, perhaps, belies the light color; this does have the quaffability that a good IPA needs though it is perhaps a touch on the full side of perfection. The citrus hop character definitely boosts the perceived sweetness of this beer. The malt here clearly plays a supporting role, but I like that it doesn’t have a noticeable crystal malt contribution; the flavor is of clean pale malt with maybe a hint of grassy grain to it.

This is a very pleasant surprise; I wasn’t actually expecting much from this beer, but I am really digging the interplay between malt and hop here. Clearly the hop character is dominant, but I like the clean influence of the simple malt bill as it serves as a perfect vehicle for the hop character.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Price: $9.70 Served In: Tulip